A Final Visit
by Skywinds
Summary: The Doctor decides that he isn't going to die without seeing Rose Tyler one last time. It turns out he's going to be there for longer than he expects.
1. Chapter 1

**Right, so... Hello Whovians! I thought you could all use some more suffering life so here is some Eleven/Rose that will hopefully end up turning angsty, but it probably won't be for quite awhile. No idea how long this will be (literally no planning was put into this; I just started typing it up one night) and the chapter breaks might be a bit...weird. I've always been a bit rubbish with chapters, but I think this will end up being too long for a one shot. So, without farther ado, let's get to the fic!**

_I could even help Rose Tyler with her homework-_

He broke off to a stuttering halt. Why had he not thought of that before? In the hundred years he had spent traveling alone, when he could have her again.  
>But he had thought of it. Well, not specifically helping her with her homework, but just to see her again, back before they met. Back before the running. Back before he learned how to live again.<br>He knew he shouldn't go back. She wouldn't recognise him, not with this face. It could just be a small visit, but he knew that wouldn't work. Once he saw her again, he knew that he wouldn't be able to tear himself away. He would drag her off to the TARDIS and give her the forever she promised, timelines be damned. _The Time Lord victorious._

No. Not again. He couldn't do that, especially considering how badly it had ended last time. He couldn't let what happened to Adelle happen to Rose. Maybe one visit wouldn't hurt...

"Change of plans, Dorium! We'll be taking a little detour, shouldn't take too long, so don't worry but you'll have to stay in here when I'm gone," the Doctor said as he lept around the TARDIS console, flipping and pulling switches in a seemingly random order.

"Doctor, whatever you're doing, are you sure it's a good id-" Dorium was cut off short when the TARDIS gave a large jolt, send his box rolling.

"Damnit, man, help me!" Dorium cried as the door on the box slammed shut.

"Sorry, bit busy. But don't worry, you'll be fine here. It'll just take a tick," the Doctor called as the TARDIS came to halt. It then let out a moan while the cloysterbells rung ominously.

"There there, old girl. It's just one trip, I promise I won't mess up to badly. Besides, it's Rose! You claimed her the moment she walked through your doors, shouldn't you be happy?" the Doctor said, patting the console fondly. The TARDIS let out another groan and he just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, what do you know," this earned him a electric shock through the hand that was still resting on the console.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry! But I'm still going to find her," he muttered. This time, the TARDIS let out an almost sympathetic noise, and he smiled fondly.

"That's my girl. Now be a dear and watch Dorium while I'm gone," he called while walking towards the door.

"I don't need a ship to watch over me!" Dorium yelled indigently, still laying lopsided on the floor. The Doctor ignored him, instead taking a deep breath before he pushed open the TARDIS doors and stepped out to the Powell Estate.

Rose Tyler sat in her bedroom, staring blankly down at the assignment sitting unfinished. I was a cold autumn day, and she had just begun year ten, and already the work load was barring down on her. She fidgeted with her papers once more before deciding that she couldn't avoid her homework anymore. She would just have to do it.

It wasn't laziness that was keeping her from working; she just didn't understand the work. No matter how many times she got her math teacher to explain, she couldn't comprehend it. She was beginning to accept that she was nothing more than an idiot.

Right as her pencil almost touched the paper to make a pointless attempt at an algebra problem that looked like nothing more than Greek to her, there was a knock at the door. Glad for the interruption, she quickly got up to answer it.

She pulled open the door to reveal a funny looking man dressed like a professor, even though he couldn't be past his twenties.

"Hello! I'm John Smith, your new tutor. You must be Rose Tyler," the man, John Smith, broke into the biggest, yet saddest grin she had ever seen and offered his hand while showing her some paper that stated he was, indeed John Smith, 'certified tutor'. She stared at him for moment before slowly taking his hand. She could have sworn she felt him jump when she did so.

"Hello , it's, uh, nice to meet. Sorry, but, I didn't arrange to get a tutor," she said slowly, taking her hand back and stepping back a bit, still making sure not to open the door enough to let the man slip past. Part of her knew she shouldn't have even opened the door in the first place; her mum didn't like her doing that when she wasn't at home, but something about the strange man had seemed... familiar. She felt drawn to him like an old friend.

"Please, call me John. And I'm surprised your mother hadn't told you about me!" he then muttered something that she caught as 'knowing you, you would have kicked up a fight anyway', but that couldn't have been right. "Here, this is our agreement," he handed her a piece of paper that she read over.

'Mr. John Smith will tutor Ms. Rose Tyler twice a week for six weeks, or until heard grades improve for a payment of five pounds every session and I, Jackie Tyler agree to these terms.'

Well, it certainly looked like her mum's handwriting, and their was no mistaking her lopsided signature. It was strange that something so official would be drawn up just for her to be tutored, but when she questioned it, she felt something in her mind telling her to trust him. Strangely, it was a mixture of her own instinct and something else; something telling her almost in song to believe John that was accompanied with a warm presence. She glanced dubiously up at John before slowly handing the paper back to him. She searched his eyes for any trace of a lie, but he only saw kindness, and something else that she couldn't quite identify.

"Alright, John, come on in."

**Right, so, crazy short and I'm sorry for that. I don't really know whether or not all the chapters will be like that or not, but I'm kinda expecting it to be pretty long. I currently don't have a beta so any mistakes are my own so feel free to point them out and I'll fix them.**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	2. Chapter 2

**Flashbacks galore in this one. Didn't really mean for that to happen, it just sorta…did. xD Um, still a relatively short one (sorry 'bout that) but I'm not really sure if they're ever really going to get longer than this. Um…enjoy?**

When the door had opened, the Doctor thought his hearts were going to stop right then and there. She was so much younger, yet so similar to the nineteen year old Rose he had traveled with back with his old daft face. _I do miss that face..._ He took a moment to gaze at her and take in all her features, even though he remembered every last detail as if she had been alongside him yesterday.

He paused for a moment, trying to think of something that would convince her to let him in. Then, he remembered how she never took her A-levels and that she had always been rubbish in school. That gave him an idea.

"Hello! I'm John Smith, your new tutor. You must be Rose Tyler," the lie rolled off the Doctor's tongue easily as he flashed the psychic paper and reached out his hand to shake hers. When her smaller hand grasped his, he felt a small jolt at the connection that he hadn't felt in years, but still remembered perfectly.

After convincing her that he was to be her 'tutor', he followed her into the flat.

"I'll be just a mo'; let me go get my work," Rose said before heading back to her room. The Doctor gazed around, old memories from his past two lives flooding back. He hadn't spent to much time at the Powell Estate, preferring to stay in the TARDIS to avoid Jackie, but he still had a few fond memories of this place.

_He had chased the signal throughout London before finally ending up at a slightly run down estate. When the door opened, he had been so surprised to see the human for the store. Rose, that was her name. He followed her in, and looked around. Though it was no time to rest, he took the opportunity to examine himself._

_He hadn't been able to convince himself to look in a mirror since the war; he didn't care anymore. But he did now anyway, before getting all the information he needed from this 'Rose Tyler' and headed out the door. Of course, the stubborn ape just followed him..._

_He still couldn't believe he landed a year off, but there was much more important matters now. Staring at the telly, he began to loose patience with all the stupid apes in the room. It was bad enough having to deal with Jackie, but this was taking it a bit to far. He was going to get out of there as soon as he could..._

_Christmas evening, he just regenerated that morning. New teeth, new hair, new everything. He looked around the small table at the humans he was starting to consider his family. Well, not everything changed. He hoped that Rose would see that, and would stay with him, he was so scared she would leave..._

_He walked into the flat with a strange sense of familiarity. It struck him as odd; yes, he and Rose had stopped off here relatively often, but he was beginning to see the Powell Estate as a second home, almost as much as he thought of these mismatched humans as his family. He shook himself out of these thought; they had some ghosts to deal with..._

He felt his throat tightening at that last memory. He remembered that day perfectly- the day he lost Rose. That day, he had almost given up. Rose had become the only thing he was living for, and he didn't have anything left afterwards. After the transmission had ended, he had almost drove the TARDIS straight into that supernova.

"Er, Mr. Sm-um, John?" the Doctor jumped slightly when he was ripped away from his memories by the subject of them, who was currently looking up at his hesitantly, papers gripped in her hands. Funny, she almost seemed a bit afraid of him. His Rose had never shown fear at something as insignificantly appearing as a man in bow tie. Though, he supposed, she could grow a lot in the next couple of years.

"Right, Ms. Tyler, let's get started."

"Now, what does that make 'x' equal?" Rose worried her lip for a moment before it hit her.

"Erm...7.4?" she answered hesitantly, not feeling confident about her answer at all.

"Correct!" There it was again. That huge grin, filled with both happiness and sadness at the same time. It was such a strange sight, as were his eyes- so old, in such a young body. She had seen eyes like that before, but only old war veterans and something about John's were worse, yet so much better.

She smiled back at him, surprised that she was actually enjoying this. John explained the problems so much better than her teachers, and he made sure she understood every step as he explained. And now that he had, the problems seemed so much clearer. Everything made so much more sense, and she couldn't understand why she didn't see the simplicity early. Well, that was probably because she didn't have John before.

"Well, it seems like that was that was the last problem, Ms. Tyler. Anything else you need help on?" John asked, helping her fit the algebra worksheet back into her stuffed backpack. She took a moment to think.

"Um, no sir. That was all I had today," she replied after a moment.

"Right then. I'll...be off then, I suppose," he stood up and headed to the door, stopping before opening it when Rose followed him.

"So...you'll be back later this week, yeah? Twice a week?" she gave him a small smile. He seemed to pause for a moment, his hand hovering over the doorknob.

"Of course I will, Rose. How could I forget?" he reached out to shake her hand once more before heading out the door.

Rose returned to her room, bag in tow. _Well, that certainly was...interesting,_ she thought to herself. John had been incredibly nice and patient, which was something she had never really experienced from a teacher before. All her other teachers either thought she was an idiot or wasn't really trying, but John had listened to her and helped her. It was...nice. She smiled fondly and laid back on her bed, letting out a small sigh.

The Doctor walked into the TARDIS quietly and then stepped up to the console, absentmindedly stroking the TARDIS, causing her to hum softly. After a moment he slammed his head into the console.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," each word was punctuated with another slam, causing the TARDIS' happy hums to change to ones of concern. "How could I have promised her that?" He heard a sigh from the other side of the console.

"Really, Doctor, was that necessary? I'm sure whatever you've done it couldn't have been too bad," Dorium's muffled voice came from the overturned box.

"Trust me, it was," the Doctor muttered with a sigh. "We'll be taking a few more detours." Eleven more, to be precise. He wasn't going to break his promise to Rose, he was going to each and everyone of their tutoring sessions.

He began to flip switched around the console, setting the destination. _But, first, to deal with Jackie..._

**I really really really love writing Doctor/TARDIS interaction. Seriously, it's the best thing ever. It doesn't even matter what Doctor. xD So you might be seeing quite a bit of that in this story, but it will primarly be Doctor/Rose, I promise. xD**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fffff thank you guys so much. I really wasn't expecting any feedback on this and already quite a few you had added this to your watch list and of course my three amazing reviewers- DPraven, Galifreyan Queen, and Terra Young- cannot be forgotten. So have another chapter!**

When the Doctor began to flip switches, the TARDIS let out a hopeful chime.

"Sorry, girl. Still not going home yet," the TARDIS lowered the pitch and made the chimes louder in anger when he said this. "I'm sorry! I really am, but..." his voice dropped to a whisper. "I-I promised her," he was surprised when this made her instantly changed her tone to one of sympathy. It was moments like this when he couldn't deny what Ian, Barbra, and Susan had tried to tell him such a long time ago- the TARDIS was truly alive and how he could ignore that for 500 years- he didn't know. He had grown so much closer to her since that day. After acknowledging her life, they had forged an unbreakable bond between them. He knew that, no matter how many people he lost- be it humans, tin dogs, or his own granddaughter- he would always have his TARDIS to comfort him. _Good 'ol Sexy,_ he smiled fondly to himself.

He was still faced with the dilemma of figuring out how to convince Jackie to let a perfect stranger tutor daughter. He had a feeling that if he walked up to her and said 'Hello, I'm John Smith and I want to tutor your daughter for only five pounds a session' he would get a slap across the face, at best. He felt his jaw twitch when he remembered her slaps. 900 years of travel through time and space and I've never been slapped by somebody's mother.

Leaning back against the railing, he began to think about all his past conversations he had with Rose, hoping to find something that would help him, as he ignored Dorium's continuous stream of questions. Finally, something came to mind that might be of help to him...

_They both rushed through the TARDIS doors, hand in hand, before breaking apart, him rushing around, flipping switches as she stood by, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for him to tell her what to do next._

_"So the Veleen people need that Zan-Zanf..." she broke off helplessly, no idea how to pronounce the name of the mixture._

_"Zanfalgaborse," he replied in his thick Northern accent, not even looking up from the scanner._

_"So if they need...that stuff to cure this disease and Trisale have it...why don't we just steal it from them?" This got a reaction out the Doctor. He looked up, his expression one of surprise and his icy blue eyes a mixture of approval for her thinking of something, but disapproval for it being thievery._

_"Rose Tyler, I never took you to be a thief," Rose blushed slightly and looked down._

_"I'm not-not really. There was this one time, back in year ten when I was failing all my classes and, well... I sort of stole the test answers from my teachers desk. I nearly got expelled."_

_"How'd you get out of that one?" he asked curiously, returning his gaze to the scanner._

_"Well, the school asked my mum to pay a fine and get me a tutor. I knew about the fine, but I was in for one hell of a surprise when someone showed up to tutor me," he glanced back up to see that her eyes had taken a slightly vacant look._

_"And? Did it help?" he asked, starting to lose some of his concentration to her, rather than devoting it to the scanner, as he should._

_"Oh yes. He was the best teacher I had had in my life..." her eyes became even more distant and he felt a pang of jealousy before pushing it away. He wasn't jealous of some ape stealing Rose's heart. Besides, why would it matter to him? She was just another traveller, a stray staying with him until she got back home..._

The Doctor let out a small chuckle at that memory. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about that until now- he had been jealous of himself.

He quickly focused himself at the task at hand and reached for the phone and his sonic screwdriver. After changing the settings, he started scanning through the phone, which was now connected to the one in the Tyler's residence, searching for the call alerting Jackie that her daughter was failing.

Finally, after going through what seemed like hundreds of hour long conversations with someone called 'Sharine' pointless things like shoes and celebrities that would bore even him to death, he found the call. Really, Jackie, are you the teenager or is Rose? He thought to himself while listening to the conversation.

"Ms. Tyler, I'm sorry to inform of this but your daughter was caught stealing from a teacher."

"What?" The Doctor pulled back from the phone slightly and winced at the screeching voice.

"Yes. We need you to come up on the Eleventh at ten to discuss it."

And that was just the information the Doctor needed. Hanging up the phone, he quickly set the coordinates and time before send the TARDIS flying through the time vortex.

It was only five til ten when he stepped out of the TARDIS, adjusting his bow tie slightly while scanning the car park for Jackie's car. Spotting, he quickly headed towards the building.

Flashing his psychic paper and muttering about an appointment to the secretary, the Doctor quickly made his way into the building and up to the principal's office. Standing by the door, he could already here Jackie from the door. Suppressing a shiver of fright, he knocked quietly on the door, causing Jackie to fall silent.

"Come in," he heard the principal call and after preparing himself to see Jackie Tyler face to face again, he pushed the door open.

**I'm going to have SO much fun writing that Eleven/Jackie interaction. xD I just really love Jackie. She was pretty awesome. Also, I know I've been doing lots of flashbacks, but I can't promise that it'll stop anytime soon. I apparently can't just write Eleven, I've got to write Nine and Ten. Also, I know there was a really old Classic Who reference in there, and I'm hoping it won't throw any of you off. xD**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, this sorta turned into a 'covering my own arse' chapter because, like I've said, there was no planning put into this story so I didn't really think about how the Doctor would become Rose's tutor and why Jackie wasn't home if it was arranged and such. So this is a bit of filler while I try to explain everything. Sorry, not much Rose, I just really can't stand plot holes. But I gotta tell you, Jackie is becoming one of my favourites to write. So, this kinda turned into a lot of Jackie POV. I was going to have her yelling and making a fuss about having to get a tutor for Rose, but she sorta took over and turned a bit more cunning than I expected. Either way, enjoy!**

Jackie Tyler had not expected to end up wasting her day at her daughters school, getting told that Rose wasn't only a thief, but a bad student. That was why she stole the answers, apparently; Rose was failing nearly all her classes. _That girl is going to get a good smacking when I get home_, she thought to herself.

"...And that's why I believe you should get her a tutor," the principal-Oh, what was his name? Mr. Jones or something of that sort? She had never cares for the man, and that was all she knew about him- finished. Jackie had missed a majority of whatever he had been saying, but the last bit gave her an idea. She new how much Rose hated studying. Perhaps a tutor would be a good form of punishment- along with that smack, of course.

"Really? That's all you want me to do? She not getting suspended or anything like that?" Jackie asked a bit surprised.

"Well, she has been assigned detention for the next four weeks, every morning, an hour before school, but no. She's not being suspended."

"Well, I wouldn't blame you if you did. Still, I suppose making her get up that early will do some good-" she broke off at a knock at the door. Mr. Jones looked a bit startled.

"Come in," he said and not a moment later the door opened to reveal the strangest man she hand ever seen. He was quite young, with some of the most stupid hair she had ever seen, matched perfectly with the equally idiotic bow tie that graced his neck.

"Er, hello sir. Can I help you?" Mr. Jones asked.

"No, but I believe I can help you," the man paused to pull out his ID. "I'm from the tutoring company you called the other day- it seems you were looking for someone to tutor a girl called 'Rose Tyler'?" he asked, reaching over to hand his ID to Mr. Jones, but Jackie snatched it from his hand.

"'John Smith certified tutor'. Did you really already call ahead without even asking me if I wanted some stranger teaching my daughter in my house?" she screeched, glaring at the principal. She didn't know why, but something about this stranger made her instantly dislike him.

"Y-you are..? Strange, I don't remember calling..." suddenly Mr. Jones fell silently and his eyes clouded over for a second, before becoming clear again. "Oh, of course! How could I forgot, Mr. Smith? Please, take a seat..." the man, Mr. Smith, sauntered over the chair next to hers and sat, folding his lanky legs.

"So, Mrs. Tyler, would you allow Mr. Smith to tutor Rose?"

Her first reaction was to shout now and storm out of the office right then and there. But then, the man turned to her and for the first time, she looked into his eyes properly.

The man was quite young to be a professional working tutor, but his eyes told a completely different story- this man had been through a lot, even she wasn't thick enough to miss that. But something in his eyes, he seemed to be begging, almost pleading her to agree, which she had to admit, was a little odd that he was so determined to tutor her daughter, but, despite the hate she already felt for him, she couldn't help but trust him, and she had no idea why.

"I-I don't know..." Jackie struggled to find an excuse, some reason to push him away. "I'm not sure...if we can afford a tutor at the moment," which wasn't completely untrue. The Tyler's had never been a wealthy family, but it had been harder than usual lately.

"Nonsense, I only charge five pounds a session. And if things get worse...I might be able to wave a few fees," she couldn't help it. At his words, Jackie broke out a small smile. She might hate him, but he was rather generous. Maybe she should rethink her opinion...

"Alright. When will you start?"

After arranging the dates and times with Jackie, the Doctor realised there was one problem that hasn't been solved yet- Jackie had to be out of the house on his and Rose's first tutoring session.

He could tell that he had at least began to earn her trust in that meeting, which was surprising, it had taken a lot longer to earn her trust the first time- though, of course, this time he hadn't stolen her daughter for a year- but he knew Jackie was protective of Rose. It would probably take quite a bit to convince her to leave him alone with her. However, he knew there was one thing Jackie Tyler couldn't resist- a bargain.

Jackie had spent the day cleaning, much to her daughters surprise. She new that Rose was becoming a bit suspicious, but she didn't plan to make a bad impression.

She had been thinking more and more about John Smith ever since it was arranged for him to tutor Rose. She couldn't understand why she had instantly hated him so much, but she felt that it could be a bad omen. What if this was some big set up? What if this John- even if that was his real name- had somehow convinced Mr. Jones he was a tutor, but really had other intentions? What if he was a murderer?

She forced herself to calm down. _No, no, I'm just overreacting. I'm sure he's a lovely man- he certainly seemed to be,_ she thought to herself. Yet she still could shake the feeling that this man was going to cause nothing but harm to her and her family.

She was a bit surprised when the phone rang around eleven- just about half an hour before John was supposed to show up.

"Hello?"

"Jackie? It's Shareen. You won't believe what happened!"

"What is it?" Jackie had never heard her so excited in her life; it must be something big.

"I won a five hundred pound gift certificate to that fancy clothes store- oh what's the name of it? Never mind, I'll check on the way. But if you come, I'll let you use some of the money for yourself!" Jackie let out a small squeal and all thoughts of John were forgotten.

She quickly agreed to join Shareen and after taking a brief moment to tell Rose she was going out, she was out the door, running down the steps.

She never realised that she was going to completely miss the tutoring session, just as the Doctor had planned.

**So, obviously I don't know the names of any shops in London. So sue me. Also, the whole thing with the principal 'remembering' was supposed to be the Doctor planting the idea in his head. That was going off the whole thing that the Time Lords are a psychic race- the 'Vulcan Mind Meld', the ability to sense each other throughout all of time and space- and I probably would have tried to explain it better, but this whole thing turned into Jackie POV, so I couldn't really do that. With this explanation chapter done, we should be getting back to the Eleven/Rose interaction soon, but honestly, I don't really know where this is going. This was all I had planned out at the start, except for the ending. And really, none of it is 'thought out' just vaguely thought of and then scribbled down. Anyway, I hope to continue with these daily chapters so hopefully something will hit me soon!**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	5. Chapter 5

**THE AUTHOR NOTES ARE A DAY OLD. Possibly older. I just really wanted to get this out without anymore editing, but some days might be listed wrong. See y'all Monday!**

**Sorry for taking so long to get this out. I was going to finish two nights ago and post yesterday morning like I usually do, but...well, I watched End of Time again last night. I know this probably doesn't seem like much of an explanation, but, to tell you the truth, I haven't made it through EoT yet without...cryingmyselftosleepafterwards. You might not have figured this out yet, but Ten is by far my favourite Doctor and I sorta got unreasonably attached to him in the short amount of time I saw him. (I watched all the episodes during the second half of the summer of '11- I didn't get the four years that most of you did with him) And then I just sort of ran out of time yesterday. My orchestra rehearsal ran realllllyyyyy late. But, I digress. I'm going to stop rambling on and get to the chapter!**

The second day the Doctor landed the TARDIS outside the Powell Estate, he felt a bit more prepared. Last time, he hadn't even thought about what he was going to say until the door opened, and it had left him a bit unprepared. This time he knew what he was getting to- well mostly. Spending so much time around Jackie in such a domestic setting was not something he was used to, but he would manage.

Finally working up the courage to face them both again, the Doctor made his up the steps and to their door. He smiled fondly when he heard Jackie yelling at the tv. As often as he told Rose that he didn't do 'domestic' and hated spending time with her little family, he had to admit that some part of him had enjoyed it. Something about feeling like part of a family again, after so long...

_After he had found something to wear, the Doctor hesitated at the TARDIS doors. It was Christmas day, and he really didn't want to invade the small family's festivities. He knew that Rose usually wouldn't mind, but he could tell that she didn't trust him completely yet- and that she was still mourning her first Doctor._

_It was silly- he knew it, and he was pretty sure she knew it, as well. He was the same man; the Doctor had not left her yet, she was still clinging to him- the old him. He had noticed that his leather jacket somehow made it's way from the coat hanger in the spare room to her bag, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. At least not this soon. He would let her mourn him, even as he stood by her side and never say a word about it. If it helps her to grieve, than who was he to stop her?_

_The Doctor eventually decided it would be best to not bother them. Maybe that was what Rose needed after all the aliens and the regeneration- some normality. With that thought in mind, he turned back the the TARDIS console._

_"Well, old girl, I think it's just going to be you and me tonight," he said quietly, running his hand up the Time Rotor as she gave a small hum in return._

_-–-–-_

_He was underneath the grating by the central column when he heard the door open. He knew it was her, but he was surprised about how quite it was. Usually she payed no mind to that, not because she was being rude or anything but because she knew this was her home and she was free to open the door however she pleased, among many other things. But the thought that she thought that she had somehow lost the privilege drove an icy spike into his hearts._

_"Doctor? Doctor, are you in here?" Rose called out softly. She seemed very determined to disturb him without disturbing him._

_"Rose? What is- Rose Tyler, you are going to freeze to death!" quickly, the Doctor pulled himself out from the floor, glaring as warmly as possible at her. Rose was wearing nothing more than a tank top and very short pyjama shorts that he was working very hard not to focus on. She looked down, seeming a bit surprised._

_"Well, I was just leaving for a second. Besides, who made you my mother?" there she was. His Rose, tongue like a knife when she wanted it to be. But then his Rose disappeared, replaced by the shy girl who seemed lost and confused. He knew his regeneration had effected her badly, but he just couldn't figure out how to make things better again. He hoped, with time, the problems between them would fix themselves, like they usually seemed to do._

_Ignoring the question, he walked over and draped his long coat over her shoulders which, despite her being 'perfectly warm', she gladly accepted._

_"Thanks," she glanced down for a second, her cheeks turning red. "I came to see if you were going to be out here much longer."_

_Well. That was unexpected. He had planned to spend the night in the TARDIS, not intruding on Rose's family. He quietly voiced his concerns to her, avoiding looking her in the eye._

_"You wouldn't be intruding, Doctor! Surely you know that by now," she have him a small tongue in tooth grin._

_"Well, I just thought...since I changed..."_

_"We've already gone over this! Now come on, you can fiddle with the TARDIS later. Besides, I'm sure the old girl would like a rest from whatever you're doing to her," the TARDIS let out a noise that stated quite clearly that she agreed with Rose._

_"Well, if you're sure... I'll be there in a minute," he smiled at her and them turned back around. She quickly turned back and left the TARDIS, head back out to the icy cold. After a few more modifications, he followed._

_He hadn't planned to celebrate Christmas. He hadn't planned to spend time with people tonight. And the Doctor most certainly didn't expect to be adopted as part of the Tyler family, but that was exactly what happened on Christmas night._

_It had started with them all moving from the kitchen to the living room to exchange presents. It was at this point the Doctor tried to sneak out since he hadn't had time between the Daleks, regenerating, and the invasion to get anything for Rose, let alone her family but, to his surprise, it was Jackie who stopped him leaving._

_"Jackie, I'm just going-"_

_"You aren't anywhere. Now sit down right now."_

_It most certainly wasn't a fear of Jackie that made him sit down. It was his own choice. At least, that's what he told himself._

_As the trio all swapped gift and laughed over the presents, the Doctor just smiled along with them, but staying out of their way. As much as Rose and Jackie had told him he should stay, he still felt uncomfortable. He was beginning to think that these almost human emotions would plague him during this regeneration..._

_"Right, your turn," Jackie said, startling him out of his thoughts._

_"Oh-ah, well, you see-" he looked up to see Jackie holding a gift out to him._

_"Oh, I can't. Really, Jackie, I can't accept this," he stuttered._

_"Nonsense, I insist. Besides, you're part of the family now, why shouldn't you get something?" Part of the family. That was four words he never expected to hear out of Jackie Tyler's mouth. It had been so long since he had truly been part of a family. Ever since the time War, he had been alone. Even with Rose by his side, there was still a gaping hole in his hearts. And while Jackie's words weren't enough to fill that hole, he did feel a bit of it stitching together again._

The Doctor returned to the present- or perhaps, to the past. Letting our a sigh, considering how much that had been happening lately, he really was getting old, he raised his hand to knock on the door and face the duo once again.

**So, this whole chapter was pretty much a flashback. That...was not what I planned, but like I said, I just watched EoT last night and The Eleventh Hour tonight. You're probably wonder what that has to do with anything, so I guess I'll explain. EoT (along with making me cry) makes me love Ten a lot more than I usually do. It also makes me hate Eleven. Eleventh Hour makes me hate him more so.**  
><strong>Now, this has nothing to do with Matt or his character or anything like that- it's just that I was really prepared to hate Eleven because I was going with the mindset 'Nobody will ever replace Ten for me and anyone that follows isn't the Doctor'. Which is, obviously, a bit irrational. But the point is, I just could write Eleven tonight and I'm sorry. Also, there's sorta a huge possibility that the flashback in there doesn't completely correspond with the episode; my memory of Christmas Invasion isn't perfect, but I'm thinking it fits in and I'm just not sure where. Sorry if I completely fucked that up and contradicted the episode or something but, come on, it's just a flashback, not some big plot altering event. I don't know when I'll be getting the next chapter up tomorrow since I'm not sure If I'll have time to get it up tomorrow. And if I don't get one up tomorrow, you might not be seeing one til Sunday. I'm really sorry if that happens, but I'm going on a trip with my Orchestra down to San Antonio and while I will be able to write, I don't know if or when I'll get opportunities to post so I might just come back on Sunday with, like, five chapters to spam you with. Also, sorry if this one seemed a bit short. And for the insanely long authors notes.<strong>

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	6. Chapter 6

**Really sorry this took forever. I really have no excuse- just laziness. Hopefully I'll get back to a normal daily schedule soon.**

"Mr. Smith! It's lovely to see you!" he instantly knew Jackie wasn't nearly as pleased as she tries to portray she was. That much was obvious, even a human would have been able to tell.

"Mrs. Tyler, it's wonderful to see you again. And please, call me John," the Doctor replied, shaking Jackie's hand before following her in.

"Rose! Your tutor is here!" it was only a moment before they could both hear her coming quickly down the hall.  
>"'ello John. I've got loads to do today, so want to get started?" she did indeed seem to have quite a bit of work. The bag she was dragging behind her seemed loaded with papers and books.<p>

"Ah, well, then shall we move to the kitchen?" he had nearly turned around then and walked without even waiting for a reply, but then he remembered Jackie was standing right there and it would be best to mind his manners around her- at least when he was only her daughter's tutor, not her daughter's-

He paused. His relationship with Rose... well, they didn't really have a word for. Not anything as domestic as boyfriend or girlfriend, it was always just him and her, the Oncoming Storm and the Valiant Child, the stuff of legends. But perhaps now was not the best time to mull over things like that.

"Yes, of course. Let me make you two some tea. How do you take yours, Mr. Smith?" Jackie asked, her voice still bleeding with coldness despite her kind words.

"Two sugars, please," the Doctor replied, following her towards the kitchen, Rose right behind him, bag in tow. It was odd, really. His preference for tea hadn't changed since he regenerated into his Ninth body- something unheard of for him. Despite the fact that every incarnation had had a fondness for the Earth drink, even his first body, despite all his complaining about humans, not one regeneration had taken it the same until his Ninth.

So he and Rose sat at the table as she pulled out a rather large pile of work and Jackie quietly set about making them tea behind them, but the Doctor could feel the frequently glares falling upon him as Jackie's eyes burned into the back of his skull. Ignoring her, he began to sort through the pile.

"Blimey, this much work for one day?" he asked. It seemed like quite a bit much for such young children. Rose mumbled something in reply.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that," he said, not looking up from the papers.

"It's...all the work I didn't do. My teachers said I could make it up with you helping me," Rose whispered as quietly as she could, fearfully glancing between him and Jackie, waiting for one of them to snap, which didn't take long.

"You mean you didn't even try to do your homework? I thought you just a bit dull, but lazy, too, Rose?" Jackie had almost instantaneously been at her daughters throat.

"I did try, mum! I really did! I just..." Rose worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I just didn't understand," the Doctor took this as his cue to intervene.

"And that's what I'm here for! So, Rose, let's see if we can get you to understand it better," rather forcibly kicking Jackie out of the conversation, he turned back to the papers while she huffed but set the two cups of tea down before walking out the door, staying within earshot of the kitchen.

"Thanks," Rose said quietly, looking down at the papers.

"Not a problem. I have a feeling I'm going to be rescuing you from her quite a bit over these next few weeks," the Doctor replied.

"My knight in shiny armour, come to take me away on your royal steed then?" she laughed quietly. More like your alien in a bow tie, come to take you away in my box, he thought to himself. She saved him from having to reply.

"Anyway, shall we get started?"

It was nearly eight that night when the Doctor left the Tyler's residence. He had even been forced to stay for dinner by Jackie. Though, he probably would have ignored her and left anyway if it hasn't been for the puppydog eyes Rose had pinned him with. He had never been able to deny her anything when she gave him that look.

Despite the slightly awkward meal, he had to admit he was starting to get used to this routine already. It hurt, though. It hurt so much to see Rose again, yet he couldn't bear to stay away- she was like a drug to him. He wondered if he would ever be able pull himself away.

But then he remembered. He still should be heading to his death. The Doctor had spent two hundred years running from his death, and over a thousand running from so much more. Maybe it was time to give in.

His head was then flooded with images her. Rose, with a look of glee on her face as she finally understood the last problem on her homework. Rose, locked in a passionate kiss with someone who could have been him, instead- yet was very much him. Rose, running towards him in an empty street, Daleks flying by. Rose, telling him she loved him and him being to much of a coward to say it back. Rose, her fear filled yet trusting eyes on him as he said one word- run.

That was why he hadn't given up yet. Because, despite the fact that she was off, probably even married to the other him by now, she was still right here. No, he couldn't take her with him off into time and space for adventures across the universe, but maybe, just in his final hour, the domestic approach wouldn't be too bad.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, the Doctor quietly walked down the stairs at headed towards the TARDIS, who was hidden in an alleyway. Pushing the doors open, he instantly noted the snores coming from the still overturned box. He really would need to do something with Dorium if he was going to keep going back to Rose. He walked towards the middle of the control room, collapsing in the chair, his eyes staring blearily up at the Time Rotor. He let out a sigh.

"I can't keep this up forever, can I?" the Doctor asked himself, but the TARDIS hummed encouragingly anyway. He pulled himself up from the chair and set the coordinates before sending the TARDIS through the vortex.

**I quite enjoy writing about the Doctor's tea habits, apparently. I actually did research it a bit, but it seems like, despite knowing he drinks tea, we haven't really known how he takes his tea since Nine so I kinda just went with that. Also, more Doctor/TARDIS interaction because that's apparently something I need in my life constantly. Sorry this one was a bit short. I've started on the last chapter, but we've got a ways to go until we get to that one. I just really wanted to write it. xD New chapter soon, hopefully!**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry sorry sorry bout the long delay. To make a long story short, my dad had a seizure and the aftermath of that has left me with little time and little will to work on this. I hope you guys can understand. This ones actually the longest yet, especially considering the slightly shorter authors notes...**

For the next few visits, the tutoring sessions had been rather uneventful. She would ask him questions, he would answer and them stare at her constantly as she was bent over her work- making sure Jackie never saw lest she got the wrong idea. It was around four weeks into their lessons when something abnormal happened- Jackie actually left the two of them alone at the flat.

"I hope you don't mind being a babysitter, too- I can pay you a bit extra," Jackie said, making her way around the room, quickly gathering up her things.

"I don't need a babysitter, I'm fifteen, I can-"

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Tyler. And please don't worry about the money, either," Rose glared up at the Doctor for cutting her off, but he simply gave a small smile, which seemed to irritate her to no end.

A couple of minutes later, with Jackie having left to go to the store, the Doctor and Rose had gone to the kitchen and taken their usual seats. Rose pulled up her bag from where it had been sitting on the floor, as the Doctor begun to make tea, since it was usually Jackie who made it for them.

When he returned to the table and set the glass in front of her, he could tell something was wrong. Something about Rose was... off. Ignoring it for the moment, he patiently waited for her to sort through her work while he sipped his tea.

"You know, I could show you how you can organise better to begin with, so we don't have to go through this every session," the Doctor said, his eyes never leaving her face, though she still hadn't looked up at him.

"That's nice," she mumbled clearly distracted. He frowned, but didn't comment.

Shortly after that, the papers were sorted and they had begun to work, but something was bothering the Doctor. Rose had barely asked any questions and was only giving one word answers. Not to mention the silly mistakes she was making. Finally, he pushed the work away and turned towards her.

"What's wrong, Rose?" she seemed a bit surprised and looked away.

"Nothing," she mumbled under her breath, trying very hard to avoid his gaze. He let out a slightly frustrated sigh.

"Look at me," the authoritative tone in his voice made her eyes quickly dart up to his face, but still avoid his eyes.

"Please tell me what's wrong? I just want to help," the Doctor said, keeping his voice sounding as friendly as possibly, but Rose glared at him anyway.

"You sound like every other adult- ask about my problems, tell me you'll help, and then just tell me to get over it," she replied angrily, turning away from him, glaring down at the table so hard he was sure it would burst into flames any second now.

"Rose Tyler, since when have I been like 'every other adult'? Besides, what about your mum?" though Rose and her mum hadn't seemed like the closest mother and daughter when he met Jackie, the Doctor had always assumed that had been his fault. Disappearing for a year and not explaining when you come back is sure to drive some distance and lack of trust into any relationship.

"I'm not going to go to the problem to console with it about what to do about itself, now am I?" Rose said with a snort. Well, maybe he had been wrong about it being his fault. _Maybe I am a bit too self entered..._ he thought to himself.

"So you had a fight with your mum, eh? Well, to be honest, I've never met a teenager who didn't fight with their mother. In fact, me and my mum got in huge rows all the time," that certainly was true. He had stolen the TARDIS back when he was a teenager, and the look on her face- well, as terrifying as it was, it was still better then his father's reaction. He winced in remembrance of that particular beating.

"See? You are just like the others," Rose said, all hope of help seeming to fade from her eyes.

"I never said to just 'get over' your issues- I just said they were common, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't have to be dealt with. Nearly every child is scared of the dark, but does that mean you should just tell them to 'get over it' instead of consoling them about their fears?" the Doctor asked her.

"Well...no, I suppose not," she said quietly, still avoiding his gaze. Gently, he reached over and turned her face to his.

"Tell me what the fight was about," he said, his hand still resting on her cheek. She twitch anxiously and he snatched his hand away, fearing he had overstepped a boundary but Rose seemed neither annoyed nor happy about him scooting back.

"I-it was silly, really." she said, seemingly looking for a way out.

"It's not silly to me," he said, trying to sound as honest as possible. She visibly swallowed before replying, but whatever she said was too quite for even his Time Lord hearing to pick up.

"What was that?" he said in a nearly equal volume whisper.

"I said I asked if I could stop getting tutored," she said in a rush, squeezing her eyes shut and turning away from him.

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, taken aback. Where had this come from? Rose had seemed to enjoy these lessons the past few week and would alway greet him with a grin, feverishly telling him about how her grade in science had gone up or how she had passed her history test with flying colours. Quickly scanning through his memories of the past few weeks, he found nothing to indicate she hadn't enjoyed the lessons.

"Well...if that's what you want, I could talk to your mum for you. You've progressed a lot and I believe you could manage on your own, now. But why do you want the lessons to stop?" he asked curiously, hiding the hurt tone in his voice.

Rose was staring down, her cheeks burning. A moment after that, tears started to slowly cascade down her cheeks as she closed her eyes tightly.

"Rose," the Doctor said softly, pulling her to him and gripping her in a hug, not caring that this wasn't the Rose that was used to his hugs. "Rose, please, tell me what's wrong," She furiously shook her head, despite the fact that she was burying herself farther into his coat.

"Okay, it's fine. You don't need to talk," he said in a whisper, dragging their chairs closer as he begun to stroke her hair softly. He would let her calm down before trying to talk to her.

They sat together like that for several minutes, Rose's sobs showing no sign of ceasing anytime soon. Suddenly, she lept up and backed away from him. The Doctor sat shocked for a moment before slowly standing.

"P-please...just g-go," she whispered, head firmly down. Her words cut into him like a knife.

"Rose...I just want to help you," he replied, equally as quiet as he begun to slowly inch towards him.

"Just go!" she screeched before taking off, a dull 'thud' of her door soon following.

For a few minutes, the Doctor could do nothing but stand, fixed in the same spot. What had he done? Where in that conversation had he gone wrong? _What was he supposed to do now?_ He considered following her, but knowing Rose, he knew it would be better to let her be for a bit. With a sigh, he begun to straighten up Rose's school work, the previous conversation playing over and over in his head.

It just didn't make any sense. Yes, Rose had seemed a bit off today, but he hadn't done anything that would usually send her over the edge on a bad day. _Though perhaps she was very different this young,_ he thought to himself. He decided to finish up his tea while he waited.

Around an hour later, with no sign of Rose, he stood up, retrieved her backpack, which had now been reorganised by him, and slowly made his way to her room. It took a minute or two of him standing outside the door before finally knocking.

"Rose? Can I come in?" the thud of something soft hitting the door was the only answer the Doctor got. Suddenly, he was quite grateful that it was a nineteen year old Rose he encountered first instead of fifteen year old. She certainly had more an attitude- though he couldn't blame her. He was just as bad as her when he had been her age. Ignoring the clear sign of 'go away', he slowly opened the door, checking for any other projectiles that might be heading his was. Seeing that the coast was clear, he opened the door filling and walked into the room. It was strange, now that he thought about it, but he actually didn't recall ever being in her room before this. He set Rose's bag down on the floor.

"Go away," she mumbled sullenly.

"Alright, Rose. I'm going to leave. But I am coming back for your next lesson and hopefully you can tell me what I did that made you so upset," he paused for a moment. "But whatever I did, I'm sorry," he waited for a few seconds for a reply, but none came. He sighed, heading out and back to the TARDIS. Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to visit Rose again.

**LOOK AT ALL THAT INTERACTION. I feel like maybe I haven't been doing good with dialogue, especially between these two but hopefully this chapter will help? Um, new chapter...eh, I'm not even going to say soon. But I promise not to give up on this story, I'm just not going through the best times right now. (that probably explains the mood of this chapter, too) Sorry.**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for delay; I should probably just accept at this point that I'm not going to update on a daily bases. So...err...yeah. Onwards!**

It was several days later before the old alley behind the Powell Estate was graced with the echoing 'vworp' of the TARDIS engines as she materialised in the small, dirty space, causing leaves and small animals to scatter. It had been only two days since the TARDIS had last been there, but it had been quite a bit longer for the man in the box.

After his last visit with Rose, the Doctor didn't know if he could make himself. Every time he even begun to consider it, her face would swirl into view in his mind, a look of anger and fear upon her face.

Despite still not knowing exactly what he had done to cause the anger, it was the fear that was concerning him more. He had never wanted to see her look at that like him. Even as he pointed a gun at her, she held a brave face and stood by the Dalek, not a trace of fear marring her features. To see fear from her from just a simple argument...it was unusual to say the least. Of course they argued before- plenty of times aboard the TARDIS, or even off on some alien planet. Sometimes, they would escalate to well beyond their fight the other day, but it still wouldn't take long for then to make up. They could never stay apart that long; he had needed her and he had always suspected that she needed him, even before she told him she loved him. The Doctor had never felt this far from Rose.

He shook himself from those thoughts. He really was being a bit irrational. Once he got Rose to tell him what was wrong and he helped her fix it, he was sure everything would go back to normal. With this thought in mind, he left the dingy alley behind and made his way up the stairs of the Powell Estate.

Soon after he knocked on the door, it was flung open.

"Hello-oh! Mr. Smith!" Jackie looked at him, shocked, "Please, come in," he followed her in without a word, just a small nod. They made there way to the kitchen, the Doctor noticing Rose was nowhere in sight.

Though not unreasonable, the fact that Rose wasn't there to greet him had just seemed...strange. He had only visited eight times for her lessons yet he had quickly grown used to her being the one opening the door, greeting him with her tongue-in-teeth grin, ready to share some news related to her school work.

"So, I'm assuming Rose still isn't...happy with me?" the Doctor asked, gratefully taking the cup of tea from Jackie. She rolled her eyes as she set about to make another cuppa.

"Of course she isn't! Bloody brooding teenagers...and I still haven't even gotten her to tell me what's wrong!" At the, his eyebrows rose slightly.

"She hasn't even told you?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"No, of course not! When your her age, a girl never runs to her mum, unless you have to. Actually, I thought she would have told you. Did she not?" A touch of concern now entered her voice.

"No...I tried to get her to, but I believe I might be the root of the problem."

"Really? But she seems so fond of you..." Jackie trailed off, a slightly vacant look overcoming her eyes. "I'm starting to get concerned, though. She's barely eaten a thing since this all came up!"

Suddenly, an idea hit the Doctor. He knew how he would get Rose to talk. With a 'be right back' thrown over his shoulders, he quickly ran out from the flat and down the street. Yes, he knew exactly how he was going to fix this.

Ten minutes later, Jackie opened her door once again to the Time Lord, who had a rather large paper bag gripped in his hand and his bow tie askew. She quickly realised from the smell what exactly was contained in the bag, and nearly hit herself for not thinking of it sooner.

"You are brilliant, you are! I could kiss you!" the Doctor quickly scurried past her, avoiding any contact with her lips. If there was anything he hated more than a Jackie Tyler slap, it was a Jackie Tyler kiss. Shuddering slightly at the memory, he silently slipped down the hallway before preparing himself to knock on Rose's door.

"Leave me alone, mum!" Rose's voiced called out sharply from within the room.

"Sorry, but I've never actually been a mother. Don't really have any intentions on being one, either," he replied, leaning closer towards the door. Silence was the only response that he got, but it was enough to convince him he wasn't going to get any farther if he didn't just walk in.

Pushing open the door, he peered in. He first noted that Rose's room was in complete disarray, but then he noticed Rose herself. She sat on the bed, her legs tucked up to her chest as she faced away from him. Her hair was a complete mess, done up in a hasty bun and he had a feeling she hadn't changed her clothes in the past couple days.

"Rose? I've bought you some chips," he said softly, carefully stepping over the debris littering the floor as he made his way towards her bed.

"Don't want any," she mumbled, pulling herself farther away from him.

"Now, I know that's a lie," the Doctor said with a slight sigh, sitting on the opposite side of the bed as her. "Your mum told me you haven't been eating much. Now, I know there's nothing better at getting Rose Tyler to eat than a big 'ol bag of chips, eh?" she glanced back at him confusingly.

"How did you know that?" she asked, a slightly accusing tone in her voice.

"Trust me, I'm very intuitive," the Doctor replied with a wink. Rose snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Right, I'm sure there's no one more intuitive than you, John," she said with a smile.

"What that a smile?" he asked, giving her his own smile in return.

"No," she mumbled, looking away quickly.

"You smiled and you can't deny that!" as she began to turn away from him, his own grin slipped a bit. After a few moments in silence, he offered the bag to her.

"Chip?"

**Because chips solve everyone's problems.**

**So, sorta shorter than I intended but it felt like a good stopping point. I'm really just sorts wanting to get this out, since it's been awhile since I've post a chapter. Well, anyway, R&R!**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	9. Chapter 9

"So, Rose. Willing to tell me what's wrong yet?" John asked as he handed her the last few chips.

"Now that you've bribed me with chips?" she asked as she popped that last few in her mouth.

"Of course!" he replied confidently. Rose rolled her eyes.

"You've got a very bad perception on the inner workings of a girl's mind, John."

"Do I ever," she heard him mumble softly. "Still, they cheered you up a bit, right?" he asked, gently bumping his shoulder against hers. It had, really. Though, part of her felt like that might have been more having John here than the chips. Even if he was that cause of her problems.

She gently chewed on her bottom lip. She would have to tell him. Wouldn't she? Could she just go back to their lessons without a word? Or could she refuse to answer and push him away? Her feelings clashed endlessly with each other. Even if she did decide to say something, how should she do it?

They had fallen into a comfortable silence, yet Rose still couldn't take it for long. She pulled the chip bag from his hands, hers running over his slightly giving her a small jolt, and to throw it away just do she could have something to occupy herself with. She stood by the rubbish bin for a moment, before finally making her decision. Turning around, she strode back to the bed and locked her lips with his with no hesitation.

The Doctor was not prepared. He willing to admit- albeit only to himself-that he was a bit dense when it came to things like people's feelings but really he should have seen this coming.

When she was suddenly soon him, the Time Lord had only hesitated a few moments before he was kissing her back. He could breath, he couldn't think and he was pretty sure both hearts had stopped working as every one of his eight senses were flooded with nothing but _Rose Rose Rose._ He poured every fibre of his being into the kiss and pent up feelings of need and sadness and pain and love flowed from him to her. The thoughts that no, this was wrong, he couldn't do this, she was _fifteen,_ all went through his mind for the span of a millisecond before he pushed them away as Rose's hands moved up and through his hair, his hair of an idiot, and his hands moved lower and lower, all hesitations and thoughts of the wrongness leaving him instantly as she pinned him to the headboard.

The Doctor lightly nipped her bottom lip, causing her to moan as he took advantage of the situation and slip his tongue into her mouth and then they were both moaning and neither one gave a damn if they were caught by Jackie because there was no one but each other and he couldn't believe how much he had missed her until right now he would never get enough of her.

Finally, Rose pulled back to breath and he could help but gaze up at her as she leaned over the bed on him, her brunette hair (Jackie hadn't let her dye it until she was seventeen) a frazzled mane but nothing had looked more beautiful to him.

"So, John. Can we have our next lesson now?" she asked huskily, pulling gently, teasingly, at his bow tie. But finally, some sense returned to him.

"Rose, you're fifteen. I'm-" _No, no, not 1109, how old do I look?_ "Twenty-nine. Your mother is in the next room. I'm your tutor. We can't..." his words fading off into a murmur as she removed his bow tie and ripped his jacket off him. Oh Rassilon, how he wanted to let her continue. He couldn't, though. For all the reasons he listed, and many more. She had so much ahead of her- they had so much ahead of them. If he let himself fall into this he could never wrench himself away. Even if it blew up the whole universe, he couldn't leave her again if they had more, but he wasn't the Doctor now, was just John Smith, simple human, he could do this, he could-

Could he? Maybe, just for a bit, he could live his fantasies. Maybe that was what he deserved, after all this time. Maybe he would get a better reward this time before his death because even if he spent his whole life running he couldn't do it forever but right now wasn't even running- it was one moment, frozen in time, when he needed to make a very important decision.

So he did.

Or, rather, it was made for him.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" the screech of Jackie Tyler caused Rose to quickly leap away from the Doctor as he just sat there dumbfounded.

"John Smith you better get your hands off my daughter and out of my house before I call the police!" she yelled, striding over. It was a second too late when he realised what was going to happen and he was on the receiving hand of the most painful Jackie Tyler slap he had ever been misfortunate to experience. He quickly obliged, leaping from the bed and out the door, chancing a small glance back at Rose as she was berated by her mother before leaving the flat.

Taking a deep breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the Doctor took a moment to fix his clothes before hastily heading back towards the TARDIS, not wanting to be caught by Jackie- though, he had a feeling she was going to be upstairs with Rose for quite awhile.

Letting out a sigh, he leaned forward against the time rotor. The day had certainly not gone as planned, though he can't say he didn't enjoy any of it. But he still hadn't made his decision- was he going to let that relationship continue, or was he going to leave now and never come back? While Jackie's actions made that choice rather obvious, he still wanted to cling to this fantasy a bit longer. Jackie didn't have to know. The Doctor knew that Rose, like most teenagers, had gone through a couple of years of heavy disobedience- even running off with Jimmy Stone, dropping out of school so she could live with him- but was he going to be part of that? Was he going to start that? He just didn't know.

"I just don't know what to do, old girl," he mumbled softly.

The TARDIS was silent.

**If you're wondering, the Doctor's other senses are time (fixed points along with knowing exactly what time/date it is, and just timelines in general), his psychic abilities, and planetary movement(I was basically just gonna quote Nine's little speech but I don't know it by heart so you should all just know what I mean). No, that's not canon at all but hey I do what I want. *cough* Anyway... I kinda felt like a bit of this got a bit run-onish but that was kinda the style I was going for. I just don't know if I pulled it off well. xD There's probably not too much of this store left, but I don't know how much for sure.**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	10. Chapter 10

**So I realised today that having a beta is something you're suppose to do. I don't really get how it works though, so anyone wants to talk to me about just pm me or something.**

When the bell rung, Rose was one of the first ones out the school, desperate to escape what had become one of her two prisons. She had enjoyed school for a bit- but then she lost her will to study when John was kicked out. Her grades had begun to slip. Dramatically.

Rose's day had become an endless cycle of school and home and nothing in between. No, she might not have done too much before, but it was still enough that her schedule now felt torturous. She just wanted out- away from the dull, boring life she was doomed to leave and somewhere new. Anything, _anywhere,_ as long as it wasn't anywhere near London. She had begun to take the longer route home, just to escape it for a bit longer. She had even for an even more out of the way scenic route and now had nearly an hour of time to herself- no teachers, no mum, just herself.

At least that's what she had thought.

Rose had been lightly stepping over stones leading across a rather dirty stream when she noticed him. Part of her had almost been expecting this; it seemed inevitable that they would cross paths again, though that didn't mean she was prepared to see the bow tie clad man leaning against a tree, smirking at her with his hand buried deep in his pockets. The part of her that hadn't been expecting him instantly took control and she toppled over, falling into the shallow brown water. She was suddenly very grateful she had tossed her bag over the creek before crossing.

She sat on her bum, spluttering to try to remove every trace of the awful tasting water out of her mouth as her body slowly became colder and colder from the icy November water.

"Need some help, Ms. Tyler?" John asked, approaching to help with that damned smirk still on his face. She glared up at him before pulling herself and strutting towards him.

"You- you just go swanning off, then show back up out of the blue-" she stuttered a bit, at lost for words but still boiling with anger. Even as she told herself no, this isn't his fault it's Jackie's Rose couldn't help but be forced to fight off the urge to slap him right then and there- just so she could cause someone pain.

"As I recall, I didn't go swanning off- I had no plans of leaving, that was your mothers fault," he paused for a moment and she felt him rake his eyes up and down her soaking wet form as she shivered slightly from the biting breeze. "It just took me...a bit longer than planned to find you again," John murmured softly as he moved towards her slowly.

When he had gotten close enough for her to feel his warm breath upon her, making her shiver more the the wind ever would, Rose couldn't stand it anymore. She stepped forward, rising to her toes as she pushed her lips on his and wrapping her arms around him, soaking him but him didn't seem to mind much. His own gripped tightened as he pushed his way into her mouth, causing her to let out a rather undignified squeak that only became higher pitch as he hand lightly brushed against her hip.

She could feel John smirk as he spun her around and took full control of the situation- which she gladly allowed. She felt her back scratch against the bark of a tree which caused her to push back but he wouldn't budge an inch- if anything, he pushed forward, causing their bodies to meld together as one. She felt one of his hands raise to softly tug his fingers through her hair as he let out a soft moan- but something about it caught her attention. There were so many emotions put behind that one moan- he sounded desperate, he sounded broken, and he sounded oh so sad. It nearly ripped her heart apart.

Finally, she had to pull away. Rose didn't understand how he could go so bloody long with out air, but she was suffocating. After a moment, she focused her gaze and took in his now rather wet body (though he seemed unbothered by the -3 degree water), his mouth, still a bit open, and his eyes, which echoed the emotions she had heard in his voice earlier, yet they were covered by a layer of joy and disbelief.

"Rose Tyler," she heard him murmur as his forehead came forward to rest against her own as his eyes fell shut, "Oh, Rose. Can we really do this?" John seemed to be talking to himself, but she lifted her hand to rest it gently on his cheek, causing his eyes to open.

"What's stopping us?" she asked in a whisper, which earned her a small smile from him.

"Your mother?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"What she doesn't know wont hurt her. Besides, who's she to make decisions for me?" Rose felt his hands reach out and grasp her own.

"Well, she's your mum. She's still supposed to be making decisions for you- or, at least a few of them."

"So you want me to listen to her and refuse to ever talk to you again?" she asked, an eyebrow as her mouth curved into a wry smile.

"Ah, I believe there's such thing as making an exception. And this would be one of the times to do so," he replied, pulling gently on her bottom lip to reclaim her mouth with his own.

A strong wind blew past, causing her to shiver furiously. He pulled back slightly.

"Are you cold?" he asked curiously. She rolled her eyes.

"I did just jump into freezing water, John," she replied teasingly.

"Oh, right. I don't get cold as easily as hu-ah, most people," Rose had definitely noticed his slip up, but she didn't really know what to make of it so she just passed it off as a simple mistake.

"But, blimey, you must be freezing! It's the middle of November! Here," John moved back from her and removed his jacket. He then stated at it for a moment, as if he was just realising it was nearly as wet as her.

"Oh. Sorry," he seemed to hesitate for a moment before simply throwing his jacket over a tree branch and pulling her closer to him. She tried to get warm from him, but even the dry parts of his skin were colder than her own, but she didn't care. All Rose wanted to stand there in John's arms as the sounds of the city seemed to fade farther away and there was nothing but him and her.

**I'm rather enjoying the romance. I've never really wrote anything even slightly romantic before (including non-fanfic stuff) so it's been a rather interesting experience.**  
><strong>Also something I'd like to mention is that the reason Rose hasn't noticed his two hearts yet is because he's using a perception filter to make her think there's only one. I just kind of missed my opportunity to throw that into the story, it would be a bit awkward now. xD<strong>

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow, this thing is starting to get a bit long. Or, at least, a bit longer than I thought it would be. Still no idea how far we are from the end since I'm to lazy to plan this stuff out...**

Rose and John had soon found themselves sitting against the tree he had thrown his jacket on, her curled up against him as they simply sat, talking. He told her wondrous tales of an alien, who flew through time and space in a magical box. She really enjoyed his stories- space had interested her for awhile and had only increased her need to get away. Suddenly, while John was in the middle of a story about a werewolf, she noticed what time it was.

"Oh god, my mum is going to kill me!" she exclaimed, quickly pushing herself up and rushing to get her bag. She reached up and felt that her hair was still damp and she could tell she smelled heavily of creek water. Yep, her mother was definitely going to kill her. Rose turned around to see John glancing at his watch as he pulled his jacket on.

"Would you like me to walk you home- or at least until we get near the Estate, so your mum doesn't notice?" he asked, pausing to take in her still wet hair and clothes, "Frankly, I don't think she needs another excuse to yell at you right now." Rose snorted.

"Yeah, I'll be lucky if she even let me ave the house for school if she saw me with you. But, yeah, let's go," she said, heading off at a quick pace. After a moment, she felt his hand slip into hers.

"Gotta get there quick, right? I've got an idea- run," and with a maniacal grin John instantly set off at a breakneck speed, dragging her along with him. She let out a laugh and raced alongside him, never letting go of his hand.

Soon, they arrived a couple of block away from the Powell Estates, and the Doctor slowed down to a walk, lightly swinging their hands between.

"So," he begun as they came to a stop just out of sight of Rose's flat, "I suppose we should do this more often?" he asked, leaning closer.

"Definitely," she murmured back before leaning in to kiss him again. After a few moments, she broke away. "But, where? And when?" he gave her a smirk.

"Let's just make it a surprise, eh? I'll find you when I can- and, obviously when no one is around. We will make this work Rose Tyler, I swear," _or at least until I've run out of time,_ he thought to himself. She gave him a tongue in teeth grin and pecked him on the cheek before turning towards the apartments and taking off at a sprint, pausing for a moment to turn back and give him a wave.

He waved back at her, a small, sad smile on his face. He couldn't keep this up forever. Seeing her, but knowing the inevitable. It would all end soon, he was only stalling.

But maybe he could stall for a bit longer.

One trip in the TARDIS later, the Doctor stepped out confidently in front of Rose's flat. He had checked to make sure Jackie was out before he came- certainly didn't want something like last time happening again. He was a bit surprised, though- that Jackie would leave her alone again. It had only been a couple of days since the last time they had seen each other, so he hadn't expected her mum to let her out of her sight so soon. Whatever had compelled her to do so, however, he didn't really care.

Knocking of the door, he straightened his bow tie while waiting for Rose to answer. When the door finally did creak open, her face poked out, a wide grin apon it.

"John, come in!" she opened the door wider, and he slipped in. Nearly instantly, he felt her lips on his own and he quickly complied. He could certainly get use to a good snog as a greeting from her. After a minute, she broke off, gasping for air.

"I don't know how you can do that for so long," she wheezed as she tried to get her breath back. He merely chucked. They moved from the entryway to the living room, collapsing together on the couch.

"So, how long have we got?" the Doctor asked, playing with her hair as she leaned into him.

"Uh, an hour or two?" she guessed. He leaped up to his feet, shocking her for a moment.

"So, feel up to an adventure?" he asked. She raised her eyebrows.

"An adventure?" she asked a bit wearily.

"Yes, an adventure! Now come on, we're wasting time!" he exclaimed before reaching down and pulling her off the couch.

"Okay, an adventure. So, where are we going on this wondrous trip?" she asked, the slight sarcasm overshadowed by excitement.

"Anywhere," he replied, dragging her out the door before she caught up to him. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, off on another adventure. As it should be. He smiled fondly and paused, standing in the middle of the parking lot. Rose glanced around, probably wondering what they were doing but not questioning him. Suddenly, he released her hand and spun around in a circle several times before stopping and pointing in a random direction.

"This way!" he exclaimed. Rose didn't question his choice for a second. She merely gave him another grin before pelting off in the direction he had pointed.

"Race ya!" she through over her shoulder, he hair streaming begins her in a whirlwind as she leaped over a low brick wall, into the unknown. It only took the Doctor a moment before his brain caught up to him and he was sprinting after her.

**Sorry it took me a bit longer to write this than it should of, considering it's rather short. (as of they aren't all extremely short anyway) But I kinda thought you guys would prefer quicker updates than a longer chapter. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. xD**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the lateness, but school is finally out! I'll hopefully be getting a lot of writing done this summer, since I don't have too much planned. Anyway, let's get on to the chapter!**

The dingy back alleys were filled with laughter as the pair raced through them, hand in hand. Neither knew where they were going (though Rose did have some vague knowledge of the area-the Doctor, however, was clueless) but neither really cared. Finally, after what seemed like hours or maybe only seconds later, they began to slow, Rose trying catching her breath. They paused for a moment, just staring at each other until breaking out into laughter again.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Rose asked him.

"No, of course not. More fun that way. Why would you want to know where you're going? It's so boring," the Doctor replied without hesitation. Rose shook her head.

"You're the strangest man I've ever met," she muttered.

"Yes, but you prefer that anyway," he said flippantly.

"You've certainly got that right," she replied with a sly grin, inching towards him before catching his lips with hers. They stood in the alley together, lost in their own paradise, for several moments before the Doctor broke off and offered her his hand.

"So, Rose Tyler, where to next?" he asked.

"Anywhere," and that was all he needed. He captured her hand in his once again before heading towards the end of the alley. Stopping for a moment he glanced around until he realised where they had ended up. It was somewhere quite familiar.

_The TARDIS had come to a shaky halt, as always. The Doctor and Rose collapsed backwards, in a fit of-in the Doctor's case (or at least what he told himself) rather manly laughing, and certainly not girlish giggles._

_They soon picked themselves up off the metal grating and headed towards the door- the Doctor with a bit of hesitance. Rose had asked if they could stop at her home again. While he was getting more comfortable around her family-or, really, just Jackie now, with Mickey stuck in the other universe. Or technically, not the other universe, since there's really an infinite amount of other universes out there, but really, this isn't the time to worry about that._

_Stepping outside, he gazed around the barren park as he closed the door behind him. It was beginning to look quite run down, but he could tell it had looked nice several years ago. The Doctor was torn from his thoughts as a warm hand slipped into his larger one and Rose gave him a wide grin as they skipped-though he would have chosen quite a different word for it-away towards the Powell Estate._

The memory faded and the old, empty park with a rusty swing set and dying grass melted away to a much more well kept area, teeming with life. It was then that he noticed the TARDIS had landed in the same spot as she had last time. He smiled slowly before turning to Rose.

"Close your eyes-I'll be right back," he said, making sure she had obliged before heading towards the blue box.

—•—•—•—•—•—

Rose stood in the middle the park, her eyes closed, feeling a bit like and idiot but not questioning John's intentions. Her trust was soon rewarded with the smell of warm chips wafering under her nose. She grinned and opened her eyes to see him grasping a paper bag in one hand and a blanket in the other.

"Not exactly an ordinary picnic lunch, but who needs ordinary anyway, ay?" John asked, spreading the blanket out on the grass. They collapsed together on it, digging into the bag as they gazed around the park in a comfortable silence. Soon, he had picked up his story of the alien in a box where he had left off the other day.

"So, werewolves. Yes, before you ask, it was an alien, too."

"So that's your explanation for everything, then? Aliens?" she said with a laugh, trying now to offend him.

"All that space around us, Rose Tyler. So many other planets and galaxies and only one speck of a rock has life, yet is teeming with so many different kinds? Seems a bit unreasonable to me," John replied reaching into the bag of chips. Rose only shook her head slightly.

"So, where was I? Oh, yes, Queen Victoria..."

—•—•—•—•—•—

"There's one plant with huge mountains covering it that is filled with dragons-" he cut off, remembering that particular trip with Rose. One of their last together. When she told him...his musings were interrupted with a laugh from Rose.

"Dragons? Aliens is one thing, John but dragons?"

"Hey, humans had to get the idea of them from somewhere, so why not aliens?" he defended himself before adjusting his bow tie self consciously. She reached over and set the bow tie askew again. This led to them playfully fighting for a few minutes before Rose grinned triumphantly, bow tie in hand.

"Give it back!" he said it a tone that most definitely was not whining.

"Or what?" she asked, her tongue poking out of her teeth. His mouth curled into a smile.

"I'll make you give it back."

"I'd like to see you try," all thoughts of the people around them were forgotten as the Doctor leaned towards her and snogged her senseless while working his bow tie out of her tightly gripped first. He pulled back once Rose had released it.

"I win," he grinned triumphantly. Then, nine words slipped from his mouth that he never meant to say to her again. "How long are you going to stay with me?"

"Forever," the reply was instantaneous, with no thought at all. _No, no, no, I can't do this, we can't do this, the timelines-_

His thoughts were cut off by a deafening roar as a large black creature materialised in the sky.

_Reapers._

**Wow, it had been awhile. But we're getting very close to the end! Probably only one more chapter, depending on...well, I'm not quite sure what it depends on, since I'm not really sure how it's going to go. But I'll tell y'all now, the final scene was actually where the whole story really started, and I really hope it lives up to whatever you guys were expecting. I'm leaving on Sunday for a week so hopefully I can get it done before then. If not, sorry.**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


	13. Chapter 13

**Final chapter! (finally xD) I have decided to write a sequel as well so I'll start on that soon. I'm going to try to make it so you can read that one without having read this one, since they shouldn't be too heavily connected but that shouldn't really matter to those of you who have read this. (which I suppose is everyone who would be reading this authors note...) Anyway, onto the last chapter!**

**Oh, sorry, one last thing I should have mentioned long ago- I don't own Doctor Who nor have I throughout the whole course of this fic. None of the characters, places, ect. Are mine. All I own is a set of screwdrivers and couple of books.**

The piercing cry was echoes throughout the park as more and more Reapers appeared before swooping down and taking their victims. Quickly, the Doctor got to his feet and grabbed Rose's hand and running towards the alley, ignoring her questions of what was going on.

"John! What are we running from?" she cried, pulling him to a stop once they reached the cover of the alley. He hesitated. They had already created one paradox-how much could he tell her without making it worse?

He took his hand from hers and began pacing up and down the alley, trying to formulate the best plan for the situation. The paradox was that Rose had really meant forever, which would make her choose this him over his Ninth self (which was really saying a lot-she had left Mickey for time and space travel, why not him?) but he wouldn't let her do that- he KNEW that would cause a paradox so why would he let her do it? _You've let her before,_ a voice in his head reminded him. _Well, yes, but I didn't know she was going to save him,_ he thought back. _Really? A human has the opportunity to save her father and she just ignores it? Even you aren't dense enough to not realise what she was going to do._

Oh yes, he had gone swanning off, acting like it was a big surprise that she had gone after her father, but he had had a feeling she would. If he was honest with himself, the Doctor had known the moment she asked what she was going to do, but he still said yes because he could never deny her anything she wanted. In the end, which was coming much sooner than he would like at this rate, that would be the downfall of them both. But what if she didn't want to stay with him forever? He sighed, and turned back to Rose. He knew what he had to do.

"Rose...trust me?" the Doctor. She looked slightly surprised, but replied quickly.

"Always."

The Doctor reached forward and gently laid his fingertips on her temples, the sound of the Reapers getting louder. He hesitated for a second, before changing his plan a bit.

Rose gasped as a strange feeling filled her. It could only be described as another mind merging with her own.

_Don't be scared Rose, I'm here with you,_ John's voice echoed around the darkness she had been plunged into when she shut her eyes. _I'm going to have to do something that I don't think you'll like, but first, can I share something with you?_

_What?_ She thought back, her trust slipping for the first time in all of the confusion flowing around her.

_Memories. It might hurt for a second, but you'll be fine, I promise,_ John said softly.

_O-ok,_ she replied, curious about what- and how- he was going to show her. Suddenly pictures that she soon realised where John's memories flooded her vision and everything was happening at once, but somehow her mind sorted through it and managed to compose a rough timeline.

John- really the Doctor, an alien- meeting her in an old body. Her agreeing to go with him. Them traveling. Him regenerating. Them being separated. Them meeting again. The clone.

And for one moment, one glorious moment, they were the Doctor and Rose again, the Oncoming Storm and the Bad Wolf, the stuff of legends.

Rose wrenched herself away in shock, the memories vanishing to show John-the Doctor-her third Doctor-looking at her, a slightly scared, and utterly adorable, look on his face.

"I don't...understand," he grasped her smaller hands in his.

"I know," the Doctor said in a whisper. "I know it's hard and I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so, so sorry."

"W-what? Why?" he didn't respond. Instead, his hands released hers and returned to her temples as his lips met hers.

The Doctor caught Rose as she fell, the Reapers letting out one final cry before vanishing. He had done it. The timeline was fixed. He buried his nose in her hair, the smell of strawberries filling his nose-the same shampoo, for all that time-and he closed his eyes.

He had done it. He had completely removed the memories he had shown her of their time together and hidden the all the ones of them together since the day her mum had kicked him out deep inside her brain. Maybe, one day, his clone would find those memories and share them with her. That was all he could hope for.

After about a half kilometre walk through the ally ways, the Doctor arrived back at Powell Estate, Rose in his arms, still unconsious. Checking to make sure Jackie wasn't home he struggled to sonic the door before carrying Rose inside and to her bed. Gently smoothing down her frazzled hair, the Doctor crouched next to her bed.

"Oh, Rose. I wish I could say this was a mistake and I should have never come to visit you, but I can't. Because I don't believe it. Well, I suppose I did almost wipe all of the human race out, but I've done worse. Much, much worse.

"But I will never regret the time I got with you, these stolen hours. You may never remember, but that's ok. You'll be off making new, wonderful memories with the other me. You don't need me anymore, and perhaps it's time I stop needing you.

"But honestly, I don't know if I'll ever stop needing you. And I should have told you long ago- or perhaps just several years from now- how I felt. Rose Tyler... I love you," the Doctor finished in a whisper, bring his lips to meet hers one last time before rising to his feet and walking to the doorway. He looked back to see a small smile on her slumbering face.

"Have a good life, Rose. Do it for me," he whispered before quietly walking out her flat and back towards the TARDIS.

The door of the TARDIS opened with a long squeak, and the Doctor walked into the time machine, who was humming mournfully. She knew what was coming. He walked towards the centre consul and began pulling levers.

It was time for the Doctor to die.

**So kind of short and it really should have just been put with the chapter before it, but it had been quite awhile since I had posted anything so I kinda just wanted I get that part out. Sorry, I just couldn't drag this out any farther. I'll probably be going through old chapters and fixing some of the spelling next. Anyway, as conclusive as that was, there will be a sequel up pretty soon so you might want to author alert me so you don't miss that. ;) Anyway, I'll be posting soon!**

**Til next time,**

**Silver**


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